Reversible wrap around garment



Oct. 24, 1967 N. SIMONOFF 3,348,237

REVERSIBLE WRAP AROUND GARMENT Filed Oct. 24, 1965 E J. S 4- INVENTOR NA TAL/E S/MONOFF ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,342,237 REVERSIBLE WRAP AROUND GARMENT Natalie Simonoff, Atlantic Beach, N.Y., assignor to Esther Lustig, New York, N.Y. Filed Oct. 24, 1965, Ser. No. 504,437 6 Claims. (Cl. 2-74) This invention relates to an article of ladies apparel and to a construction which enables it to be worn securely without the aid of any of the customary fastening devices such as buttons, pins, zippers, etc., thereby enabling the wearer to put the article on or take it off with complete freedom and without aid. The construction of the invention also provides a universal garment in that it enables women within a given range of substantially different dimensions to wear the same garment satisfactorily and attractively, and also enables the garment to be worn frontwards or backwards at will to provide different dress effects. Further, the garment construction of the invention lends itself advantageously to the application thereof to dresses, gowns, play and swim suits, and outer garments for sportswear.

The advantages and features of the garment construe, tion of this invention will become more apparent from a perusal of the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a front view of a garment embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the garment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a detailed inside view of a side of the garment from the waist up and partly in section, to show the details of construction employed between the upper and lower portions of the garment; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged exploded edge or sectional view of the parts shown in FIG. 3 to illustrate how the material is put together at the waist, the section taken through one side of the blouse illustrating the folded connected end of one of the belts.

In the aforesaid figures of the drawings, the reference numerals and 11 indicate generally the lower and upper portions, respectively, of the garment, the two portions being integrally connected or united together at the waist of the garment along what may be termed for the purposes of this description, the rear of the garment, and from one side of the garment to the other side thereof.

The lower portion 10 of the garment may have any configuration suitable for the purposes of the garment. Thus, the lower portion 10 thereof may be in the form of a skirt, or the bottom portion of a gown, or of a pair of lounging pants, or trousers or shorts, etc. At the top of the lower portion 10, at the waist of the garment, the rear top edge 12 thereof has stitched thereto by a line of stitches 13 the lower inwardly folded edge 14 of the rear section 15 of the upper or blouse portion 11, such stitching 13 and the connected blouse edge 14 extending from one side 16 of the garment to the other side 17 thereof. Overlying the inner side of the juncture of the blouse portion 11 with the lower portion 10, is a narrow strip 18 of elastic material. The elastic strip 18 extends through the length of the folded edge 14 of the blouse section 14, i.e., from one side 16 to the other side 17 of the blouse, and is contained by an overlying inner strip of material 19 connected to the blouse section 15 and the top edge 12 of the lower portion 10 by lines of stitches 20 and 21.

The rear section 15 of the blouse portion is made of one piece of material and the sides 22, 22 of such rear section diverge outwardly and upwardly from the juncture thereof with the lower portion 10 and extend up to the bottom ends of the arm openings 23. The upper portion of the rear section 15 is cut to form the rear edges of the arm openings 23, the rear curved edge 24 of fixed form defining the neck opening on one side of the garment, and the shoulder straps 25 which terminate at the top of the shoulders of the garment. The upper edges of the rear section 15 forming the arm openings 23, the rear neck opening 24 and the straps 25 are provided with a single piece of lining material 26 shaped as indicated in FIG. 2 of the drawings and connected to'such edges by a line of stitching 27 indicated by the dotted line in FIGURE 3.

Connected to the sides 22 of the rear blouse section 15 and to the ends of the shoulder straps 25 are two substantialy triangularly-shaped front blouse sections 30, 30 which are cut to form the front edges of the arm openings 23, 23 and the adjustably variable V-shaped front neckline on the other side of the garment. It will be noted that the edges of the front blouse sections 30, 30 which are connected to the shoulder strap 25 and to the sides 22 of the rear blouse section are the only connected edges of such front blouse sections, the remaining edges thereof being free and enabling the tapered ends thereof to be freely wrapped around the wearers body in overlapped relation to provide the desired V-shaped front neckline conformation. The portions of the front blouse sections forming the arm openings 23, 23 the shoulder straps and the front opening of the garment are lined with single pieces of lining material 33 shaped as indicated in dotted outline in FIG. 1 of the drawings and connected to the front blouse sections along the edges of the aforesaid portions of the latter.

The lower edges 35 of the front blouse sections 30, 30 each have connected thereto by a line of stitches 34 a belt member or section 36 constituted of an elongated piece of fabric material, folded along its length and having its longitudinal edges connected to the front blouse sections in the manner indicated in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings. The inner ends of the belt sections are anchored at the side edges 16 and 17 of the garment as best illustrated in FIGURE 4 and extend outwardly therefrom substantially beyond the apexes of the front blouse sections 30, 30 to provide two free belt ends that may be wrapped around the waist of the wearer and tied together as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings. The belt member 36 attached to the lower free edge of the underlying blouse section 30 extends below the lower free edge of the overlying blouse section 30 and is thus free for tying in the back as illustrated in FIGURE 2.

The free top front edge 40 of the lower portion 10, from one side 16 of the garment to the other side 17 thereof, is folded over downwardly and stitched by a line of stitches 41 to form a tubular housing for an elongated strip 42 of elastic material. It will be noted that the elastic strip 42 is twice as wide and heavier than the elastic strip 18 so that it requires a much greater force to stretch the elastic strip 42 than it does to stretch the elastic strip 18. The ends of the two elastic strips are joined together at the sides 16, 17 of the garment by placing theouter faces of such ends in opposed relation and with the inner ends of the belt sections 36 therebetween, as indicated in FIG. 3 of the drawings, and then securing such ends of the elastic strips and belt sections together by transverse lines of side stitches. Thus, the tension of the lighter elastic strip 18 offsets the tension of the heavier elastic strip 42 and in the tightening of the belt sections 36 on the wearer the pull thereon increases the tension of the lighter elastic strip 18. Both of the elastic strips 18 and 42 are incorporated in the garment so that they are normally under tension and gather the associated edges of the lower and upper garment portions 10 and 11, respectively, around the waist of the garment.

It will be understood from the foregoing that the invention provides a garment which does not need shaping features such as darts, etc, or fastening devices such as buttons, pins, zippers, and the like to properly shape the garment, or secure it properly in place on the wearer. All the wearer needs to do is' to step into the lower portion of the garment, draw the waist thereof up to her waist where it will be properly held in position by the coacting, opposed tensions of the two elastic strips 18 and 42, then place her arms through the arm holes 23, 23 and wrap the front sections 3t 30 about her until she obtains the fit and effect she wants, and then secures the belt sections 36 together in any type of knot desired. It will be noted that in the assembly of the front blouse sections 30 on the wearer, the rear blouse section functions as a fixed panel to enable the upper portions of the front blouse sections to be adjusted properly in any desired manner and that with the drawing and tieing of the belt sections 36, the lighter elastic strip 18 will be placed under increased tension both to secure the front blouse sections in proper adjusted position and to more securely fasten the waist of the garment about the waist of the wearer. As previously indicated, the wearer may get into the garment in a reverse direction so that the rear of the garment becomes the front of the garment on the wearer to provide an entirely different style effect as can be observed from a comparison of FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings. Due to the fact that no fixed fastening means are provided on the garment, the several parts thereof may be readily adjusted on the wearer with no sacrifice of proper securement thereof, the garment is made so that it will fit satisfactorily a number of women having widely varying dimensions. Thus, it is only necessary for a store to stock only a few sizes to cover the normal range of sizes of the majority of women.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the above described features can be embodied in a number of different styles and types of garments without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An article of womens apparel comprising a lower portion and an upper portion connected together at the waist of the wearer, said lower portion having a first upper edge section connected to said upper garment portion and an upper edge section free from said upper garment portion, said upper garment portion comprising a central body covering section connected at its lower edge to said first upper edge section of the lower garment portion, and forming a neckline, arm holes and shoulders on one side of the wearer, and a pair of free body covering sections connected along their inner side edges to the side edges of said central body covering section and forming with the latter the arm holes and shoulders of the garment, said pair of free body covering sections being adjustably wrapped in overlapping relation on the other side of the wearer to form a different neckline on such other side of the wearer, means connected to said pair of free body covering portions for holding the same in adjusted relation, an elastic strip connected along the line of attachment of said lower and upper portions, and a second elastic strip connected along the free upper edge section of said lower portion, one of said elastic strips being substantially stronger than the other of said elastic strips whereby when tension is applied to said elastic strips, said other elastic strip will stretch before said stronger elastic strip.

2. An article of womens apparel comprising a lower portion and an upper portion connected together at the waist of the wearer, said lower portion having a first upper edge section connected to the upper garment portion from one side of the garment to the other side thereof and the remaining upper edge section thereof being free from said upper garment portion, said upper garment portion comprising a central body covering section connected at its lower edge to said first upper edge section of the lower garment portion, and forming a neckline, arm holes and shoulders on one side of the wearer, and a pair of free body covering sections connected along their inner side edges to the side edges of said central body covering section and forming with the latter the arm holes and shoulders of the garment, said pair of free body covering sections being adjustably wrapped in overlapping relation on the other side of the wearer, a pair of belt sections connected to said pair of free body covering portions for holding the same in adjusted relation, an elastic strip connected along the line of attachment of said lower and upper portions and extending from one side of the garment to the other side thereof, and a second elastic strip extending between the sides of the garment along the free upper edge section of said lower portion, one of said elastic strips being substantially stronger than the other of said elastic strips whereby when tension is applied to said elastic strips, said other elastic strip will stretch before said stronger elastic strip.

3. A garment as defined in claim 2, in which each of said free body covering sections are substantially triangularly-shaped with the apex thereof constituting the outer free end of such section, and in which each belt section is connected to the lower free edge of its associated free covering section and extends substantially beyond the apex thereof.

4. A garment as defined in claim 2 in which the ends of said elastic strips are connected together at the sides of the garment and the inner ends of said belt sections are anchored between said connected ends of said elastic strips, the stronger of said elastic strips extending along the free upper edge section of said lower portion, and said strips extending in connected relation adjacent the lower free edges of said free covering sections and extending substantially beyond the outer ends thereof.

5. A garment as defined in claim 2, including a one piece irregular lining piece connected along one edge thereof to the edges defining the arm holes, neckline and shoulder straps of said central body covering section.

6. A garment as defined in claim 2, including a one piece irregular lining piece connected along an edge thereof to the edges defining the arm holes, shoulder straps and neckline of each of said free body covering sections.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,03 7,270 9/1912 Lefkowitz 2--74 1,150,006 8/1915 Abrams 2-74 1,806,794 5/ 1931 Donnelly 283 2,642,5 6/ 1953 Prescott 2-76 XR JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

H. H. HUNTER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN ARTICLE OF WOMEN''S APPAREL COMPRISING A LOWER PORTION AND AN UPPER PORTION CONNECTED TOGETHER AT THE WAIST OF THE WEARER, SAID LOWER PORTION HAVING A FIRST UPPER EDGE SECTION CONNECTED TO SAID UPPER GARMENT PORTION AND AN UPPER EDGE SECTION FREE FROM SAID UPPER GARMENT PORTION, SAID UPPER GARMENT PORTION COMPRISING A CENTRAL BODY COVERING SECTION CONNECTED AT ITS LOWER EDGE TO SAID FIRST UPPER EDGE SECTION OF THE LOWER GARMENT PORTION, AND FORMING A NECKLINE, ARM HOLES AND SHOULDERS ON ONE SIDE OF THE WEARER, AND A PAIR OF FREE BODY COVERING SECTIONS CONNECTED ALONG THEIR INNER SIDE EDGES TO THE SIDE EDGES OF SAID CENTRAL BODY COVERING SECTION AND FORMING WITH THE LATTER THE ARM HOLES AND SHOULDERS OF THE GARMENT, SAID PAIR OF FREE BODY COVERING SECTIONS BEING ADJUSTABLY WRAPPED IN OVERLAPPING RELATION ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WEARER TO FROM A DIFFERENT NECKLINE ON SUCH OTHER SIDE OF THE WEARER, MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID PAIR OF FREE BODY COVERING PORTION FOR HOLDING THE SAME IN ADJUSTED RELATION, AN ELASTIC STRIP CONNECTED ALONG THE LINE OF ATTACHMENT OF SAID LOWER AND UPPER PORTIONS, AND A SECOND ELASTIC STRIP CONNECTED ALONG THE FREE UPPER EDGE SECTION OF SAID LOWER PORTION, ONE OF SAID ELASTIC STRIP BEING SUBSTANTIALLY STRONGER THAN THE OTHER OF SAID ELASTIC STRIPS WHEREBY WHEN TENSION IS APPLIED TO SAID ELASTIC STRIPS, SAID OTHER ELASTIC STRIP WILL STRETCH BEFORE SAID STRONGER ELASTIC STRIP. 